PDP Governors’ Ambition Not a Threat To Senators – Akpabio

 

                   Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, has said the decision of some of the serving governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to go to the Senate in 2015 should not be seen as a threat to serving Senators.
                   Rather, Akpabio urged the Senators to see the development as a healthy competition in a democratic setting.

According to him, there is no basis for the current crisis between the Senators and the PDP governors, adding that only nine of the governors intend to go to the Senate.
Akpabio, who spoke to journalists at the PDP secretariat on Thursday shortly after he submitted his Senate nomination form, however said his achievements as governor informed the call by his senatorial district for him to vie for a seat in the Senate.
He is seeking to displace a second term Senator, Aloysius Etok in the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District, a development that has generated animosity between him and Etok.
Akpabio said: “The Senate has about 109 members and the serving governors of the PDP who are interested in going to the Senate are just about nine. So, we have at least 100 percent chances for incumbent senators.
“If it is possible for us to return more than 75 percent of our Senators to the National Assembly, it will help a lot in legislation to deepen democracy.
“So, there is no threat to any Senator where the governors of PDP have interest to go into the Senate. I believe just like the sky, there is enough space for every bird to fly and I think politics is about people and the people’s choice should be allowed to prevail.
“I am very hopeful that the current crisis between the governors and the Senators will be resolved, but note that with 109 spaces in the National Assembly, the number of governors showing interest in the National Assembly are just about nine.”
The governor added that no one should gloat over the ongoing face-off between the Senators and President Goodluck Jonathan, saying it’s an internal affair of the PDP that would be resolved through dialogue.
“I do know that whatever is happening now between the Senate and the party or the Presidency remains an internal affair of the PDP, which we will resolve as a family.
“There is no reason why anybody should be precluded from showing interest in any position or from having any ambition on the account of being a Senator or a governor,” Akpabio said.